The Volyn Regional State Administration has filed a lawsuit to evict the UOC monastic community from the Mykolaiv Monastery in Miltsy

The Volyn Regional Military Administration has filed a lawsuit with the Economic Court seeking to evict monks of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church from the premises of the Mykolaiv Monastery, located in the village of Miltsy. This move is a logical continuation of a campaign to seize property, which is actively supported by People’s Deputy Ihor Guz, who justifies his demands on the grounds of “national security.”

As Guz reported on his Facebook account, the official reason given by the authorities for filing the lawsuit was the expiration of the lease agreement for the monastery’s premises. According to People’s Deputy Igor Guz, the religious community’s continued presence within the monastery’s walls is illegal. The politician has repeatedly called on law enforcement agencies and relevant ministries to take personal control of the situation, expressing extreme dissatisfaction with what he views as the slow response of local officials, who over the past five months have been unable to secure the vacating of the monastery buildings.

In his public statements, Ihor Guz insists on the need to “purify the spiritual space” of external influence, arguing that this process is critically important for the state’s interests. At the same time, representatives of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) disagree with the deputy’s actions: a complaint was previously filed with law enforcement agencies against him, in which his activities are characterized as incitement of religious discord.

As a reminder, we previously reported that the monastic community and parishioners of the St. Nicholas Monastery in the village of Miltsy, Volyn Oblast,appealed to U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance and Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna with a request to protect their religious rights from the threat of eviction. The monastery, which has a history dating back about 700 years, risks being evicted after its lease expires.